ROME, Ga. — A 19-year-old college football player was charged with DUI, but we now know he was sober when he was arrested.
Channel 2 Action News Investigates reported on concerns about the accuracy of field sobriety tests for drugs last month.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray talked to the student and his family who want others to hear their story.
Until blood and urine are sent to the GBI for testing, police rely on how they interpret field sobriety tests.
Testing can take months.
The results for 19-year-old McClain Fineran are clean: No signs of illegal or prescription drugs were found in his system.
“When was the last time you smoked marijuana?” a Rome Police Department officer asked Fineran on body camera video.
“I don’t smoke,” replied Fineran.
“You’ve definitely done something,” said the officer.
“I drink energy drinks,” said Fineran.
“Well, you’re not acting like somebody that’s on an energy drink,” said the officer.
“Because I’m nervous. I’ve never been in this position before,” said Fineran.
Fineran called police out to an empty parking lot at Shorter University in Rome on October 2, 2025.
“He said he’s leaving the computer lab,” said an officer.
Fineran hit a parked car after studying for a midterm and wanted to make an accident report.
“I did what I was taught,” said Fineran.
“Keep going, keep going, keep going,” said an officer while having Fineran blow into a breathalyzer.
But police started testing for alcohol and drugs.
“Yep, that’s what I thought,” said an officer.
Fineran blew a zero on the breathalyzer.
But the kicker for the Shorter University football team was charged with DUI and spent the night in jail.
“Based off the accident that you had and the field sobriety test that we did, I’ve got enough probably cause to believe that you were under the influence of something other an alcohol,” said an officer.
“I don’t drink, never have. Haven’t done drugs, never had. It’s just not what I do. And he said well I have the suspicion that you have,” said Fineran.
Blood and urine testing done by the GBI later proved there were no drugs in Fineran’s system.
“Close your eyes, tilt your head backwards,” said an officer.
He was arrested based on his performance on field sobriety tests.
“You thought you did pretty well,” said Justin Gray.
“I thought I did,” said Fineran.
McClain Fineran’s parents wonder about the reliability of a test a sober college athlete can’t pass.
“If we’re seeing people getting arrested when they’re sober and they’re not under the influence, there’s a problem,” said Christine Fineran, McClain’s mother.
In a Channel 2 Action News investigation in October, we reported on concerns about field sobriety tests’ accuracy for drugs.
“Oh, I actually sent it to the Rome City Police and I said, look at this,” said Christine Fineran.
Lenny Daniel was also sober when charged with DUI in Kennesaw.
“I said, did the breath tests show anything?” said Daniel.
“So, the breathalyzer was zero, okay,” said a Kennesaw Police officer on body camera video.
In a Journal of American Medicine study on marijuana and field sobriety tests officers classified 49-percent of the sober group impaired.
Joshua Ott used to train other police officers on field sobriety testing.
“Basically, the officers could have administered all these tests or flipped a quarter,” said Ott.
The DUI charge against McClain Fineran has now been dropped.
But he entered the transfer portal this week feeling he has to leave Rome and Shorter University behind after all this.
“It was stressful, traumatizing because I wouldn’t wish it in anybody,” said McClain Fineran.
“It’s wrecked his life. He’ll be explaining this for the rest of his life, the DUI charge, when job interviews, etc. It never goes away,” said Daryl Fineran, McClain’s father.
The arresting officer has been disciplined, but not for the arrest – for what Rome Police call “deficiencies in report documentation.”
Rome Police Department sent Channel 2 Action News this statement:
“Any time an arrest is made by the Rome Police Department, our officers must meet the legal standard of probable cause based on the information available at that moment. In this case, the responding officer had sufficient probable cause to make the initial arrest, and the decision to take the individual into custody was lawful and appropriate under Georgia law, including O.C.G.A. §§ 17-4-20 and 17-4-40. These statutes require probable cause at the time of arrest, not future prosecution or conviction.
A prosecutor’s later decision to dismiss charges does not mean the arrest itself was improper; it reflects their assessment of the case at a different stage in the judicial process.
After a routine review of the incident, the department issued a reprimand to the officer—not for the arrest, but solely for deficiencies in report documentation. Accurate and thorough reporting is essential in every case, and we hold our officers accountable to those standards.
We remain committed to transparency, professionalism, and maintaining the public’s trust in the work we do every day.”
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